How to make the most budget-friendly plastic gutters
Installing a drainage system for a roof is quite an expensive undertaking, since special plastic gutters, brackets, funnels, corners and other elements are not cheap. If you have a limited budget, it can be assembled from more affordable materials. This option takes longer to install, but will cost several times less.
Materials:
- Sewer pipes 110 mm and 50 mm;
- elbows 110 mm and 50 mm;
- tees 110/50 mm 90°;
- clamps with a dowel for fastening a 50 mm pipe;
- plugs for pipe 110 mm;
- silicone sealant;
- self-tapping screws or blind rivets.
The process of assembling a drainage system
As a drainage gutter, you can use a 110 mm sewer pipe cut in half lengthwise.
There are traces of the injection mold on its bell. To separate, you need to cut it lengthwise along these lines. The best way to cut is with a grinder with a diamond blade, as it melts the plastic the least.
If you use a metal disc, the cut will be less accurate.
As a result, one 2 m pipe produces 2 gutters with a total length of 4 meters.After cutting, the cut can be cleaned with sandpaper, but this is not necessary.
To reduce the cost of the system, homemade brackets can be used to attach the gutters. To make each of them, you need to cut 2 rings with a width of 50 and 30 mm from a 110 mm pipe. They are cut. Then you need to warm them up one by one with a mounting hairdryer, and apply them to the gutter or pipe to set the shape of the bracket. The two parts are folded together to provide sufficient rigidity for the mount.
As connecting elements for the corners of gutters, you can use 90-degree corners unraveled in half for a 110 mm pipe. It is easy to make a funnel by cutting a 110/50 mm tee 90 degrees.
Gutters are mounted on brackets, maintaining a slope for water drainage. At the joints they must be connected with self-tapping screws or rivets using sealant. At the edges they are closed with half a plug. Funnels with tees allow you to connect 50 mm drainpipes.
As a result, we get a fully functional roof drainage system. If desired, gray plastic can be painted, but only with good paint that does not peel off. If you use not the cheapest pipes, they will not fade in the sun in a couple of years, so the gutters will always look quite presentable even without paint.